About a month after a meteor hit the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, a U.S. House panel led by Texas’ Rep. Lamar Smith, put scientists on the hot seat, asking if the United States is prepared for such an event.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden was widely reported to have told them that if an asteroid is headed to Earth, his advice is to “pray.” He did say that, but as is often the case, it’s not the whole story.

Today is the National Day of Unplugging, according to a group that calls itself the Sabbath Manifesto, which has a website for getting the word out about getting away from technology for a day. Actually, it’s two days – the group touts March 1-2 as its holidays from digital living – and we can certainly …

In-app purchases – the ability to pay for additional features or virtual goods within a program – are convenient for users and lucrative for developers. But until Apple made a change to the way in-app purchases work, it was a nightmare for some parents. In the earlier version of the feature in iOS, in-app purchases …

Five major Internet service providers, striking a deal with the music and movie industries, today will launch a program in which they’ll first warn, and then penalize, suspected copyright infringers. TorrentFreak reports the so-called “six strikes” plan, managed by the Center for Copyright Information, includes AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. Legal action …

Hacking Twitter accounts seems to be the “in” thing to do for tech hackers. MTV’s official page was the latest to fail victim to hackings Tuesday just one day after Burger King. Or was it? The name of the Twitter was changed to “Hacked MTV” and the photo was replaced with the generic Twitter egg. …

When in comes to technological savvy, most relationships are lopsided. Usually, half of a couple is more adept with all things digital. Sure, there are plenty of dual-geek pairs, but my instincts and years of tech-support experience tells me they’re in the minority. Listen up, nerds: With Valentine’s Day looming, here’s your chance to give …

The first clip showing Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs in the movie “jOBS” has been released, and it’s already wading into the fact-fiction morass. After the blog Gizmodo posted the clip, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak apparently commented that the scene is “not close.” Here’s the clip from the movie, which is showing Friday night at [...] …

San Francisco’s present-day citizens got a recent visit from the “future” — a DeLorean hovercraft wowed onlookers by spinning out near the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday. The craft is the creation of Matthew Riese, who raised money on Kickstarter to fund his “Back to the Future” homage. Deciding he doesn’t need roads, Riese has [...] …

An Oregon man checked in from a blizzard, and his status updates might have saved his life. Outdoors enthusiast Jeff Kish got stuck in a sudden storm atop Mount Hood, Oregon’s highest peak, on Wednesday afternoon. From his iPhone, he updated his Facebook status: You’re gonna hear about it in the news anyway, may as [...] …